Pipe-hanger.



PATENTED MAR. 14, 1905.

No. r1784,979.

J. WL BRUCE. NPE HANGER.

APPLIUATION FILED NOV.25, 1902.

Wltneeses;

UNITED STATES Patented March 14, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. BRUCE, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO ALONZO H. MAGEE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PIPE-HANGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,979, dated March 14, 1905.

Application filed November 25,1902. Seria-l Nn. 132,799.

fo all 107mm/ t 77mg/ con/cern:

Be it known that ILJOHN M. BRUCE, a citi- Zen of the United States of America, and a resi dent of Yonkers, in the county of lestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe-Hangers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to pipe-hangers, the general objects of which are to provide a reliable, substantial, and simple pipe-hanger.

The special object of the invention is to provide a pipe-hanger which possesses sufiicient strength to withstand the expansion and contraction of the pipe and which yields or gives during such expansion and contraction without being subjected to breaking strains. Heretofore the suspended pipe always rested when not under expansion or contraction on the broad inner contact-surface of thehanger, and the pipe as it contracted or expanded would tend to slide with considerable and possibly breaking strain upon the hanger, or else it would rock the hanger to onel side or the other and in doing so ride on the edge of the broad hanger, whose broad inner surface would be inclined away from the lower part of the pipe.

One of the objects of my invention is to allow ample play for the contraction and expansion of the pipe when in place, and thus overcome the described defectby so constructing the hanger that the weight of the pipe is always even on the center of the hanger, after the manner of a scale-beam resting on a knifeedge fulcrum in weighing mechanism.

My invention consists of certain features of construction and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and then claimed.

ln the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective View showing my improved pipe-hanger in use, the beam from which the hanger is supported and the pipe being indi- 1 cated by dotted lines. Fig. 2 is an elevation, parts in section, of my improved pipe-hanger and means for supporting the same, the members of the hanger being' shown open in full lines and closed in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation of the pipe-hanger and means for supporting the same, the full lines indicating normal position of the hanger and the dotted lines indicating the position due to expansion or contraction of the supported pipe; and Fig. 4 is a detail view of the engaging jaws of the pipe-hanger, showing how they may be snapped into locking engagement by means of a lever.

Referring to the drawings, the beam A, which is to support the hanger, and the pipe B, which is to be supported, are indicated by dotted lines. The hanger is composed of two members D D', the member D being the supporting member for the pipeB and the member Dl being the closing memberfthat is to say, a member which cooperates with the member D to forman inclosure or ring around the pipe. The supporting member D is larger than a semicircle, so that its lower part may extend under and form the direct means of support for the pipe, and its upper end is provided with a head E, which extends transversely to the diameter of the ring-shaped hanger passing through it, so as to locate the center of an outwardly-flaring aperture c in the dome e of the head in a line coincident with suchdiameter. rlhe dome e' of the head E forms a bead or annular hump around the aperture e, so as to strengthen and reinforce the head. The under surface of the dome e' is formed with a hemispherical or substantially hemispherical socket @2, which receives a ball F, which is supported on a shank F by a nutf, which is screwed onto the lower screw-threaded end of said shank. The described construction forms a solid ball-and-socket joint for the supporting member D of the hanger, and hence for the hanger itself. The side of the head E diametrically opposite the point of attachment of the main body or shank of the member D is provided with a suitablyspaced pair of lugs g, between which is located a lug /r on the upper end of the short closing member D', through all three of which lugs passes a pivot-pin L'. The closing member D', pivoted at /L to the head of member D, is long enough to form when closed at its free swinging end against the free end of the member D a closed ring-shaped hanger.

One of the features of the present invention consists in the cross-section of the same. Each member D D is formed with a central back flange (Z and preferably oppositely-directed side liangcs (Z d. In the plane of the back iiange Z is located on the inner surface of the supporting member D a rib (Z2. This rib Z2 is preferably not coextensive with lthe member D, it commencingl at, say, d and gradually becoming higher at the lower part of the member D, where it is of su'l'licient height to form a saddle or bearer on which the pipe B may be supported. The edge of the saddle (Z2, as it will now be termed, is preferably rounded olif; but it is evident it may be a hardened knife edge. this that my invention is broad enough to include a saddle with a rounded-off or angular bearing-surface. It is not necessary that the inner surface of the member D/ have a corresponding rib or saddle di, but one is shown for the purpose of convcntionality. rIhe pipe B actually bears on and linds its whole support on the supporting member D. lhe actual saddle or bearer is dianietrically opposite the head E of the hanger, and the action and function of this part will be described later. It is evident that by the approximate cruci form shape of cross-section in the hanger considerable strength is gained without undue increase in the mass of metal forming it; but the invention is not restricted thereto.

The free ends of the members D D of the hanger are formed with interlocking jaws, as shown more clearly in Figs. 2 and 4. The jaw I on the supporting member D is Aof nose shape, having an inclined surface i or, rather, a surface which extends trai'isversely to that one of the radii of the circle defined by the hanger which would pass through such inclined surface, the said nose extending from the circle defined by the inner periphery of the member D toward the outer periphery, so that it is located within the outer periphcry. A recess vl is formed at a point just at the inside of the nose I. The recess ci' correspends with another nose-shaped jaw J on the free end of the other member, D, the jaw J extending in opposite direction to the jaw I and having an inclined surface y', corresponding with the surface t', and also a recessj for the nose-shaped jaw I. The hanger is made preferably of malleable iron, so that the free ends of the members D D will give slightly when the closing member D is snapped into engagement with the suporting member D. In the act of engaging the parts the inclined surfaces j slide upon each other and, acting on the principal of a wedge, force the jaws I J suliciently apart so that immediately the jaws pass each other they will snap into engagement with the respective receiving-recesses j a". To facilitate closing or reopening of the members by means of a lever, the jaws 1 J have at one or both sides lIt will appear from studs /fz 7s to form a pair of closing or opening studs.

rIlhc shank F', before referred to, may form part of a lag-screw, which is applied directly to the supporting-beam, or it may form part of the means of support shown in the drawings. In the form of support shown the shank F is threaded at its upper end to receive a nut Z, which supports the hanger from an open bracket L, through which the shank F passes. The bracket L is located at the mid-length of a rotary shaft M, which is provided at diametrically opposite sides and at both ends with a longitudinal series of teeth or lateral projections fm. rIhe length of this rotary shaft M is about as great as the width of the base-flange of a beam A, to which the device may be applied. A pair ofbeam-engaging jaws or hooks N, having hubs a, engage over the side flanges of the base of the beam. These hubs a are recessed longitudinally at diametrically opposite points fa, the depths of the recesses at a corresponding with the height of the teeth m. so that when the rotary shaft M is rotated through an angle of ninety degrees the teeth will register with said recesses, and the jaws may be removed froln or adjusted longitudinally on the shaft. This requires the upward swinging of the hanger held from rotation on the shaft. Between the recesses fa of the hubs and at diametrically opposite sides of the hubs the latter are formed with interior teeth a2, as shown more clearly in Fig. 3, which are adapted to interlock with the teeth or projections fm/ on the shaft, thereby locking the hooks against movement endwise of the shaft. It will be seen that by this construction the hooks may be readily adjusted along a solid shaft, which solidly supports the bracket L, so as to suspend the hanger from beams having different dimensions.

To support a pipe, the hooks N are applied to the sides of the base of the su pporting-beam and are adjusted on the shaft M, so that they will remain in engagement with the base of the beam. A pipe, such as B, is now laid in the supporting.member D of thehanger so as to rest at its bottoni on the saddle Z2 thereof. The closing member C is now brought down to the position shown in Fig. 4, with the inclined surfaces c' jin contact and a winch 0 applied between the studs 7c 71:. The winch is now operated to draw the members together and effectuate the snapping together and interlocking of the jaws I J, so that a complete inclosing hanger is formed. As the whole weight of the pipe B rests on the narrow saddle or bearer (Z2, the pipe may expand or contract without sliding' frictionally upon a broad surface, as usual. Furthermore, the hanger may swing on its ball-and-socket joint into position such as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3 without the pipe resting with its full weight IOO IIO

IZO

on the'edge of the hanger as customarily, the pipe, on the contrary, riding at all times in any inclined position of the hanger upon the saddle cl2. rlhe saddle Z2 simply rocks on its rounded or other bearing surface upon the contacting part of the pipe and maintains at all times practically the same bearing contact.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it differs from those hinge-jointed hangers in which the hinge is located at the bottom by locating' the hinge at the upper part, for if the hinge were located at the bottom a slight slip on the part of the man placing' the pipe in the hanger would be liable to shear off the pivot which connects the parts of the hanger.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is`

l. A pipe-hanger. comprising a supporting member and a closing member pivotally connected, interlocking jaws at the free ends of the said members provided with coperating inclined faces, each of the members being' rccessed behind its jaw to receive the jaw of the other member, substantially as described.

2. A pipe-hanger, comprisingasupporting member and a closing member pivotally connected, interlocking jaws at the free ends of the said members provided with inclined contact-faces, each of the members being' recessed l behind its jaw to receive the jaw of the other l member, and a stud on each jaw, at the side of the hanger, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a pipe-hanger and means for supporting the same, comprising a bracket from which the pipe-hanger is suspended, a rotatable shaft having teeth thereon, and hooked hubs mounted upon the ends of the shaft and adapted to be rotated thereon, the said hubs being longitudinally recessed to permit the passage of the teeth on the shaft and havinginternal teeth communicating with the longitudinal recesses to receive the teeth of the shaft, whereby the hubs may be adj Listed and locked upon the shaft by the rotation of the latter, substantially as described.

4L. A pipe-hanger comprising' in combination a rotatable shaft provided with lateral projections, a hanger-supporting bracket rigid thereon, beam-engaging jaws provided with hubs and adapted when in one position with respect to the hanger-supporting bracket to slide longitudinally on the shaft and when in other positions to be locked against said longitudinal movement by said lateral projections.

Signed at New York city, (borough of Manhattan,) New York, this 24th day of November, 1902.

JOHN M. BRUCE.

Witnesses:

THOMAS EwING, J r., SAMUEL W. BALCH. 

